Floors and walls have a way of completely transforming spaces. In your home's outdoor spaces, those walls are your plants, trees, house, or fence. And your floors, well there are usually a variety of materials out there. Each of your outdoor spaces, or rooms, have a different purpose and look. Kind of like your bathroom, kitchen, and living room.

For patios and walkways, function comes first into consideration before anything else. And that's because every outdoor flooring options serves a different purpose and has its own set of pros and cons. Here are the top 4 that we think have the most pros for our Hudson Valley homes.

Bluestone. A classic in our area, for many reasons. This material is durable enough for high traffic areas like walkways, easier snow shoveling, tolerates de-icing salts, and adds warmth to patios. As for costs, since its made in the eastern part of the U.S., its an affordable natural stone to deliver to our area.

Brick. Whether its regular or tumbled, brick is perfect for timeless design. Its an ideal choice for patterns and combinations with other materials, especially bluestone! Check out this blog post about brick and bluestone for one of our clients. While brick is durable enough for walkways and even fine for snow shoveling, it doesn't stand well against de-icing salts since its made of clay.

Concrete pavers. This was once the go-to for saving costs, however with the tons of options out there, choosing concrete pavers can result in the same costs as stone options (e.g. bluestone) and offer a lot more variety in design and function. The possibilities are endless with colors, shapes, sealers. A growing popular feature is heated pavers to minimize shoveling and increasing safety during the winter months. Add in lifetime warranties, and it's a perfect option for many homeowners!

Gravel. This is the ultimate choice if drainage is a concern. While gravel is typically best used on driveways, it can work well as one of the materials on walkways and even patios. A great choice for gravel is crushed brick. Some cons include safety (read related blog post on child safety here).